ALABAMA -- Mobile, home to Mardi Gras, has always had what you might call an on again off again relationship with the enforcement of open container laws.

During Carnival, it’s not uncommon for bars to sell to-go drinks and for police to look the other way as they are enjoyed in the street. Other times of year, it both bar tenders and drinkers could be arrested.

HB 20, approved during the most recent Alabama legislative session, gives the Port City and other municipalities around the state the ability to normalize the sale of to-go drinks through the creation of special “entertainment districts.”

In those districts, bars would be able to sell drinks for takeout, and people would be able to drink them on the go in tranquility.

The bill, in the works for more than two years, was finally approved in May. Yet, to date, Montgomery appears to be the only big city to have followed through with the creation of such a district.

Officials in Mobile, Birmingham and Huntsville, though, say they are all working to follow suit.

Elizabeth Sanders, President of the Downtown Mobile Alliance, a quasi-governmental agency that works to improve the neighborhood, said that her group is currently mulling where to put district boundaries, but she’s ambivalent about loosening restrictions on drinking.

On one hand, creating such a district would legalize a lot of activities that are already going on but are technically illegal under the state’s liquor laws, she said.

Sidewalk cafes that serve alcohol to patrons seated outdoors are technically breaking the law, as are bars that serve to-go drinks during major downtown events, like Carnival.

On the other hand, there is the potential for people to abuse the open container law by bringing their own alcohol into the entertainment district and simply drinking in the street, Sanders said.

In a small area with only one or two developers, it would be easier to control, she said. Downtown Mobile, on the other hand, has more than a dozen land owners and licensees, so it would make enforcement harder.

Councilman William Carroll, whose district includes downtown, said that he supports the bill because it gives the city an opportunity further develop the neighborhood as a tourism draw. “We have great law enforcement downtown, and they have done a good job. If we need a step up the presence down there after this is passed, then we can do that. I think we are already policing those who are irresponsible,” he said.

Sanders said that the alliance is considering a limited T-shaped district that would cover chunks of Royal and Dauphin streets.

Carroll said he hopes to get something approved in the City Council in time for Mardi Gras.

Birmingham, Huntsville to create districts

In Birmingham, Councilman Johnathan Austin, an early booster of the bill, said the city is looking at two entertainment districts, one in Lakeview and the other downtown near the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex.

The bill allows Birmingham to create up to five entertainment districts, whereas other municipalities are allowed to create only two.

Austin chairs the Public Safety Committee, which is tasked with recommending districts to the full City Council. He said that the committee is considering limiting to-go sales in entertainment districts to certain hours. During those hours, probably weekend nights and special events, Austin said, police would block off vehicle traffic to the streets to create a pedestrian friendly environment.

He said that he expects the districts to be approved in committee and sent on to the City Council by the spring.

In Huntsville, the city created a taskforce of business owners, residents and other stakeholders to zero in on the appropriate place to create the new districts, said Kelly Cooper Schrimsher, a spokeswoman for the city.

Marie Bostick, manager of planning administration, said that both districts will probably be located downtown because that’s where most of the bars and restaurants already are.

The city has set up a committee of bar owners and other stakeholders to hash out the boundaries.

A rough draft will be presented to the group in the next couple of weeks, Bostick said. If everything goes well, the City Council will consider the final plan by late winter or early spring.

Montgomery is out in front, when it comes to entertainment districts. The city created its first one, centered around The Alley, a trendy development near the downtown hotels, before HB-20 was even approved.

“The concept has worked so well, we are looking at making a second district in the city,”said Michael Briddell, a spokesman. “The question is which particular area will be the one that is designated.”

Both locations under consideration are in the city’s Cloverdale area, a leafy neighborhood near the city’s center.

None of the officials interviewed for this story reported any significant opposition to the creation of at least one entertainment district.